OSCP Log #1

Today marks the start of my road to OSCP, I’ll try to log each day as best as I can. These posts won’t be nearly as readable and articulate as the articles on my blog because their purpose is different. I plan to use this at the end of each day, or even during the day to reflect on what I’ve learned. It will be free flowing so no format has been predetermined, I will let it morph into what it wants to.

I’ll be covering what I’m learning without revealing the syllabus material since that’s not allowed, and not really something I want to do anyways. I’m more so going to talk about my day. You can see this as my public journal!

I’ve prepared a schedule for the next few months:

[Breakfast] 07:00 - 07:15 
[Study Block #1] 07:15 - 08:45
[Break #1] 08:45 - 09:05
[Study Block #2] 09:05 - 10:35
[Break #2] 10:35 - 10:55
[Study Block #3] 10:55 - 12:25
[Workout #1] 12:25 - 13:25
[Lunch] 13:25 - 13:40
[Study Block #4] 13:40 - 15:10
[Break #3] 15:10 - 15:30
[Study Block #5] 15:30 - 17:00
[Break #4] 17:00 - 17:20
[Study Block #6] 17:20 - 18:50
[Dinner] 18:50 - 19:05
[Study Block #7] 19:05 - 20:35
[Workout #2] 20:35 - 21:35
[Post Workout Meal] 21:35 - 21:50
[Chill] 21:50 - 22:30
[Light Off] 22:30 - 23:00

I only started today and so far it’s been semi-successful. Everything went perfectly right until the first workout. Because after that workout I actually had an interview, for an internship which went very well in fact. But after the interview I went on to shower and with the energy of the workout, I couldn’t stop vibing. So I basically procrastinated the whole afternoon, with the morning being the start of the course so I basically carefully read intro material but nothing serious yet. Although I have to mention they prepare you very well for it, I’m ready to attack the next modules tomorrow with a fresh mind.

I’ve just gotten back from my second workout which is just a run at a very relaxed pace, oh yeah I almost forgot to explain my schedule. Well I have 7 study block of 90 mins of which one is dedicated to side project work. Right now my side projects are actually too much to handle, I’ve got to remake my homelab infra from scratch since I fucked up some configs, so I’m looking into setting up a main router that will serve images so my 3 other machines can network boot and have preconfigured installation files for unattended installs. I like doing sysadmin stuff when it works, when it doesn’t I just want to burn my servers.

Anyways once I’m done with that project I have to finish a simple daemon I’m making, it’s basically pomodoro with longer work cycles and rest periods adapted to my schedule obviously. I just wanted to play a nice song when transitioning between work and break to kind of pavlov muself into focused periods of work. After that I have to continue fromthetransistor, I’m finally done with the UART! I still have to implement MMIO support but that won’t be necessary until I’m done with the ARM CPU so I’ll wait to finish that first, I actually ordered an FPGA board so I’ll really be able to test this stuff IRL!!! I also bought an ultra wide monitor, it’s a totally useless purchase but I thought if I’m gonna be stuck to my computer like a hermit for the next few months, might as well get something cool.

Okay so back to my schedule, 7 study blocks 15-min eating blocks. I know that’s pretty short but you’d be surprised how fast you’re able to eat once you stop watching geohot streams while eating.

I put two workouts in there not because I have any particular fitness goals, it just helps me deal with frustration extremely well. Coming back from SEA and having to lock in and not be able to chill outside like a hippie with no schedule anymore is not easy. That’s why two workouts spaced out to release the frustrations built up over the day are nice. I don’t know anything more effective than sports to deal with (my) mental health issues.

I think that’s all for today. I also did some OSINT and in fact it’s super cool. I already knew OSINT a bit but it’s always good to brush up on skills you think you’ve acquired only to realize there’s always something new to learn. That’s why I’ve decided that when I talk about a topic here, I won’t act like I know it all. I will do quite the contrary, and let myself be amazed by little details like a beginner no matter how well I know something. Because that’s more enjoyable and I get to explain it, which will show me how much I really know!

Alright I don’t have anything else to say other than, I will stop listening to music when I’m feeling too energized or I’ll procrastinate a whole afternoon again! The OSINT stuff is really cool btw, let me finish on that note. Even though I procrastinated quite a lot, I used my newly acquired OSINT skills to find a cool event happening in my city soon, perhaps it will be a chance to meet chill people like I found in SEA again. It also helped me find some old websites dedicated to 60s rock and the psychedelic era, even ones that were hosting these events in my city a decade ago!